Working on the ground (and under it) to drive sustainable mine productivity improvements.
An underperforming coal mine. A development team overwhelmed by complexity. A culture dominated by a fear of failure. What did it take to get the mine’s people, culture and productivity back on track? Some MAXOPS’ clarity and creativity, not so much delivered on the ground as under it.
The situation: Running fast but getting nowhere
The hard-working team at the client’s underground coal mine was running five continuous miners and running out of ideas. Production rates were inconsistent and slipping. The risk of running out of coal for longwall mining was rising, along with the incidence of safety incidents associated with labour-intensive manual handling.
Most worrying of all, there was no obvious path forward. Production rates looked set to slide further.
The solution: Rolling up our sleeves on-site
Integrating ourselves into the mine’s management team, we quickly assessed the gravity and urgency of the situation and set about designing and implementing a multi-faceted intervention plan.
What did that involve? Almost everything. A new management operating system. New standard operating tactics and frontline supervisor coaching. New development processes with Quick Change Over (QCO), minimising the coal-off to coal-on change over time. New operating tactics conformance metrics using real-time data from the continuous miners. New maintenance schedules, reducing scheduled non-production shifts from five to two per week.
Our strategy encompassed the entire production value chain, from implementing Autocut on the continuous miners (automating cutting/loading cycles), to designing a custom hydraulic pipe trailer (minimising manual lifting), to creating an aligned Concept of Operations (Improvement Road Map). This included securing funding, creating packages of work for the first three months of work and setting up a basic Program Management Office to manage the delivery.
“I can’t believe Wes had never worked in an underground mine before this.”
The outcome: On the same page and the path to productivity
Our solution, implemented in partnership with the mine’s management team, has significantly reduced variability in production performance, creating a stable platform on which to build.
Moreover, the mine’s management team now has a clear plan of attack and shared purpose. Everyone understands how to deliver a step change in production rates.
And we’ve already received feedback that Concept of Operations initiatives, actioned by the client, are delivering significant value.
Proof, once again, that we can hit the ground running in any industry or setting and use our optimisation and transformation smarts to change the game.
Learn more about how we work with clients – in the field, on the ground, even under it – to design and implement sustainable change and optimisation strategies that deliver tangible results.